This meal has been a staple of New England cuisine for hundreds of years. The method of preserving meat with large kernels of rock salt has existed since ancient times and the term “corned” to designate this method has been part of the Oxford English Dictionary since the year 888. 

Turn up your speakers, scroll down and press play, then while you’re listening come back up and read the rest of this recipe.

Today is St. Patrick’s Day and although you won’t find me at the parade or in the Black Rose Bar you might find me at home cooking up a New England Boiled Dinner. In Boston this week every supermarket has a special on corned beef and is selling cabbage to go with it at half its usual price per pound. If you are lucky enough to have leftovers and own a meat grinder, repurpose this frugal treat another day into the even more frugal Red Flannel Hash. 

1 slab of corned beef (conventional serving wisdom calls for ¼ pound per
     person but allow up to ½ pound to take into account the amount of fat
     on the meat)

1 tight green cabbage head

2 pounds potatoes, variety of your choice (if you have more people than you
     think you have meat for, increase the number of potatoes accordingly)

4 to 5 large carrots

1 pound fresh or 1 can whole beets

1 turnip (optional)

Cider vinegar

Prepare the beef: Calculate the amount of time needed to cook the corned beef at 50 minutes per pound. Be sure to leave enough lead time, plus half an hour, to cook this meal. Remove the beef from its package and rinse thoroughly. Place it in a deep stock pot and add plenty of water to cover it. Add the seasonings included from the small packet. If no seasonings are included with your beef, add a tablespoon of mixed pickling spice. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the water barely simmers. Cover the pot.

Prepare the vegetables: Remove any wilted or discolored leaves from the outside of the cabbage and trim the core. Wash it. Cut through the center to make two halves, leaving the core intact, then cut each half into thirds. Scrub the carrots and potatoes. Peel the carrots and cut them into large chunks. If you are using a thin-skinned variety of potatoes, like the red-skinned “new” type, leave the skin on, otherwise peel them. Cut into halves if small and quarters if large. Peel the turnip and cut it into chunks that are between the carrot and the potato in size.

If you are using fresh beets, scrub them well and place them in a sauce pan large enough to hold them. Cover with plenty of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook until a knife can pierce them easily. When they are done, drain them carefully and allow them to cool just enough so that you can slip off the skins. Quarter the beets. Set aside. Do not cook the beets in the same pot as the rest of your dinner or everything in sight will be a uniform magenta color.

About a half hour before the beef is due to be done, remove the cover and carefully take the meat from the pot. Add the raw vegetables (not the beets), place the meat on top and recover the pot. Allow this to simmer for another half hour. Remove the meat and place on a cutting board to rest. Check your vegetables. They are done when a knife can be inserted in them easily. Warm the beets in a separate sauce pan.

To serve: Cut the corned beef into thick slices and place them on a large platter. Using a slotted spoon, carefully remove the vegetables from the cooking liquid and arrange them attractively around the meat. Just before serving, put the beets on the platter. The traditional condiment for New England boiled dinner is cider vinegar sprinkled generously on everything. You may want to forego that and use mustard on the corned beef and a bit of butter or margarine on the vegetables. Salt will probably be unnecessary since the beef was preserved in salt.

Now put on your Dropkick Murphys CD, turn it up, and you’ll be having a traditional Boston experience, indeed, but without the pahkin’ tickits!